3 Introduction Walking is the heart and sole of cities. It connects us to our neighbors, allows us to experience hidden gems and public art, which we miss otherwise, and keeps our air clean, mind clear and hearts healthy. Every trip in San Francisco begins and ends with walking, and it s essential to the overall health of a city that walking is safe and enjoyable. However, each year in San Francisco more than 800 pedestrians are injured and 100 experience severe injuries or death due to unsafe walking conditions. Vision Zero is a goal to eliminate all traffic deaths in San Francisco in the next 10 years by implementing concrete policies that will build and support a safe, equitable transportation system. s pedestrians account for 50% of all traffic deaths in San Francisco 1, improving pedestrian safety is a major component of Vision Zero. San Francisco s Pedestrian Strategy is a plan to cut pedestrian injuries and fatalities in half. It includes engineering, enforcement, and education components, with measurable goals for The Pedestrian Strategy was released on San Francisco s first annual Walk to Work Day, pril 12, In honor of the second annual Walk to Work Day, pril 11, 2014, Walk San Francisco is evaluating progress towards the goals in the Pedestrian Strategy, and Vision Zero. Street Score: Walk San Francisco s Report Card on Walking analyzes where we are, and where need to go to create a safe, walkable San Francisco. We ve compared San Francisco s progress to our city-adopted goals, and to the three U.S. cities that rank higher than San Francisco on levels of walking (Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York). Walk San Francisco believes that San Francisco can and should be the safest, most walkable city in the U.S. The metrics used to assess the city s progress towards achieving the measures outlined in the Pedestrian Strategy and beyond along with data sources can be found in the ppendix. The metrics: : excellent (exceeds goal) B: good (meets goal) C: fair (just below goal) D: needs improvement (below goal/minimal progress made) F: failing (well below goal/no progress made) Overall Grade: Progress towards Vision Zero C+ San Francisco earned a C+ on the city s overall progress towards Vision Zero. This grade is based on six different categories that are essential to creating a safe and healthy city for walking, including walkability, pedestrian safety, funding, engineering, enforcement, and education. The remainder of this report explains how we re doing in each category. Many San Francisco leaders have made exciting commitments to Vision Zero in the last four months alone, and we look forward to seeing San Francisco s overall grade improve each and every year until we achieve Vision Zero in 2024! 1 Second only to New York City, and double the national average; source: lliance for Biking & Walking, 2014 Benchmarking Report. Vision Zero is a goal to eliminate all traffic deaths in San Francisco in the next 10 years 3

4 Walkability: + Where San Francisco stands today: San Francisco earns a Walk Score of 84, the second highest in the country after New York City, demonstrating the city s vibrant, mixed use districts and myriad destinations accessible on foot. pproximately 24% of trips made in SF are by foot, and 10% of San Franciscans commute to work on foot; the national average for commuting on foot is 4.9%. In San Francisco, 9.9% of residents commute to work by walking; the fourth highest percentage in the country after Boston, Washington, D.C, and New York City. Despite the fact that walking to work is fairly equal across income levels, low-income San Franciscans are more likely to be victims of traffic collisions. Shift half of short trips (currently 33% of trips <1 mile are made by car) made by driving to walking and/or walking and transit to earn an in this metric. Improve walkability by requiring all new developments improve pedestrian safety with the countermeasures available in the city s WalkFirst program, along with best practices from the Better Streets Plan. Pedestrian Safety: D+ Where San Francisco stands today: fter a modest decrease in pedestrian injuries and fatalities from , injuries and fatalities have increased over the past two years (21 deaths in 2013; highest number since 2007). Pedestrians account for 51% of all traffic fatalities, but only 24% of all trips. Seven pedestrians have been killed on San Francisco s streets so far this year (2014. San Francisco has a rate of 4 pedestrian fatalities per 10,000 daily pedestrians walking to work; compared to peer cities, this is better than the rate of 5.8 in Philadelphia, but worse than Boston s rate of 0.9. Seniors account for 41% of pedestrian fatalities, but only 17% of the population. Some neighborhoods are disproportionately impacted by injuries and fatalities, including the Tenderloin, Chinatown and South of Market; these neighborhoods are also among the city s lowest income, and have the lowest rates of car ownership. 2 The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is in the process of hiring a staff member to monitor pedestrian safety and Vision Zero metrics. Vision Zero was adopted by the City of San Francisco in 2014 to eliminate all traffic fatalities by 2024; a B would be earned for this metric if fatalities decrease by 10%/year, and an for a decrease of greater than 10%/year. s we approach Vision Zero, a focus should be on minimizing inequities across neighborhoods and population groups. More data is needed on injuries involving people with disabilities to help inform strategies to eliminate injuries among the disabled community. SFDPH should have ongoing funding for a full-time epidemiologist to monitor traffic safety metrics to earn an on this metric. 2 San Francisco Department of Public Health. Reducing neighborhood inequities in severe and fatal pedestrian injuries. July

5 Funding: D+ Where San Francisco stands today: San Francisco s per capital spending on combined pedestrian and bicycle planning is on par with other large urban cities, except Washington, D.C., which spends far more than SF and other peer cities ($13.80 vs. $1.31 per capita). San Francisco spends a disproportionately lower share of dollars on pedestrian infrastructure compared to the share of trips taken on foot (1.3% vs. 24%). There is a 75% shortfall between the funding allotted to the Pedestrian Capital Improvements Program for and the amount needed to fully implement the Pedestrian Strategy. Pass the transportation ballot measures proposed for November 2014 to fund a substantial portion of planned pedestrian improvements. Fill the 75% funding gap in order to support pedestrian safety and Vision Zero to earn an on this metric. Develop a catalyst fund for local businesses and technology companies to invest in Vision Zero projects to save lives. Engineering: C+ Where San Francisco stands today: The San Francisco Municipal Transportation gency and Department of Public Works met or exceeded goals for making improvements around schools and senior centers. The SFMT and DPW did not meet critical safety goals for improvements to eight miles of high injury corridors per year 3 and 20 stand-alone intersections per year. Improving all 70 miles of high injury corridors and 20 intersections per year in the next five years (by 2019) would help transportation agencies earn a B; going above this goal would justify an on these metrics. SFMT should report on progress towards eliminating high injury corridors. DPW should prioritize high injury corridors in their five-year paving plan. ll agencies should adopt and implement a complete streets checklist to ensure streets receiving significant maintenance, or undergoing reconstruction, meet the highest possible safety standards while doing so. 3 Eight miles factors in additional miles of high injury corridors accrued since the release of the 2013 Pedestrian Strategy (70 vs.44 miles). 5

6 Enforcement: B Where San Francisco is today: The number of citations San Francisco Police Department has given increased 43% from January 2013 to January 2014, demonstrating the prioritization of traffic safety. Enforcement targeted at the 5 most dangerous driving behaviors increased from 22% of citations to 33% in January 2014, but has not met the goal of 50%. SFPD changed enforcement practices to prioritize and recognize preventable nature of traffic collisions (use of term collision instead of accident ). The District ttorney s office prosecuted 6 out of nine of at-fault drivers involving vehicular manslaughter in 2013, and has publicized these cases to inform the public that traffic crimes are taken seriously. Meet goal of 50% of traffic citations given to the five most dangerous driving behaviors to earn a B on this metric. Increase the number of red light cameras and introduce automated speed enforcement optimize limited personnel resources. Fund and establish the Vehicular Manslaughter Unit proposed by the District ttorney s office in the 2014 budget cycle. Explore additional options to strengthen penalties for people who injure and kill others on our transportation system. Education and Outreach: B- Where San Francisco is today: one-year walking educational campaign will be rolled out in Summer 2014, and the Mayor launched an interim pedestrian safety education campaign. Numerous citywide encouragement events were held in 2013 to open streets for pedestrians and to promote walking. Safe Routes to Schools successfully doubled school participation in Walk and Roll to School Day in Secure funding for an ongoing walking and safety outreach campaign. Expand special events, like Sunday Streets, to one per week, and/or reach all schools through Walk and Roll to School Day to get an on this metric. Launch a full website to regularly track performance against the Pedestrian Strategy s metrics and progress towards Vision Zero to earn an on this metric. Expand the Safe Routes to School program from 15 to 40 schools beginning in the school year (funding already secured). Photo Courtesy of William Mercer McLeod 6

7 Conclusion San Francisco scores well in walkability, but this represents only a portion of what is necessary to create a safe, vibrant environment for walking in a city. While these grades measure progress towards the pedestrian elements of the Pedestrian Strategy over the past year, the City has made significant progress towards Vision Zero in the past four months alone. City staff are clearly dedicated to the Vision Zero goal, and are among the nation s brightest and most talented engineers, planners, epidemiologists, law enforcement professionals and attorneys. San Francisco has the capacity to achieve Vision Zero, but must invest its transportation dollars to completely fund the WalkFirst engineering improvements that will build safer streets, as well as the more comprehensive Pedestrian Strategy, to reduce serious and fatal trafficrelated injuries. The November 2014 transportation ballot measures will provide a significant and critical source of funding for these improvements. With greater investments in safety, through improved street design and more targeted enforcement, San Francisco can achieve Vision Zero to eliminate all traffic fatalities in 10 years. 7

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